Chicken Sausages with Eggplant Caponata

Caponata (pronounced kap-oh-nah-tah) is a Sicilian dish often served as a salad or relish – here, as a topper for chicken sausage. Our lower-sodium variation of this traditional Italian topping with eggplant, tomatoes, anchovies, olives and capers beats sugary relish any day!

Caponata (pronounced kap-oh-nah-tah) is a Sicilian dish often served as a salad or relish – here, as a topper for chicken sausage. Our lower-sodium variation of this traditional Italian topping with eggplant, tomatoes, anchovies, olives and capers beats sugary relish any day!

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Chicken Sausages with Eggplant Caponata

Photo by Edward Pond

Nutritional Bonus: Eggplant possesses antioxidant properties thanks to the anthocyanins and nasunin found in the nightshade vegetable's skin.

Preparation

Preheat grill to medium-high and lightly coat grill basket with cooking spray. Lightly brush both sides of eggplant and onion with oil, then place in grill basket. Cook vegetables until brown and tender, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer vegetables to a cutting board.

Place sausages in grill basket. (TIP: It's best to cook these dogs in your grill basket as smaller links may fall through grill.) Cook according to package directions. Gently open buns, but do not split in half. Grill buns briefly on each side while sausages cook for final 2 minutes.

Finely chop eggplant and onion and place in a medium bowl with olives, basil, garlic and vinegar.

To serve, place 1 sausage in each bun and spoon equal amounts of vegetable mixture over top of each. Sprinkle with additional basil, if desired.

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